I have the Vango Faros 2 poled version. We using it when staying places for more than a couple of days for storage. Has worked well and stood up to very strong winds when other tents on site were collapsing / shredding. I would buy it again.
When we drive away and leave it, the side to the van is very flat (like most awnings I guess) so is susceptible if the wind happens to be hitting that side of it, but with the addition of some proper heavy duty pegs in the main guys its allways been there on our return.
We have a tailgate and it takes a bit of practice to get it positioned corectly so that the side door opens without catching it, but also far enough forward so it doesnt foul the tailgate closing.
The ends of the tunnel again take some practice pegging out so that they dont rub excessivly on van in strong winds (if van not clean the rubbing can damage paint if grit on it) but can be arranged though to avoid this, albeit with a gap
The passenger door cant be opened with it attached, but again that goes with terrority I think.
You could cook in it but be aware that it becomes your main entrance and exit, so if your cooking and a toddler (or dog in our case) wants to get in or out of van they have to negotiate the stove. I was always brought up to never cook inside a tent, so we only do it very rarely when raining with a cadac safari
My Kador figure of 8 jointing strip is only in 1m lengths, so the join goes right above the door and it drips into van when raining, try and get longer ones
Has a sewn in ground sheet which is what I prefer. On the last site we were on the tent next to us had the birds and squirels in their living area when they went out for the day as they had gaps around edges
